E 

99 


UC-NRLF 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  Visit 
to  the  Pawnee  Indians 

who  live  on  the  Platte  River,  a  tributary  to  the  Missouri, 
70  miles  from  its  mouth  by  Brn.  Gottlieb  F.  Oehler 
and  David  Z.  Smith,  April  22 --May  18,  1851, 

to  which  is  added 

A  Description  of  the  Manners  and  Customs 
of  the  Pawnee  Indians  by  Dr.  D.  Z.  Smith. 


Reprinted  from  the  Moravian  Church  Miscellaney  of  1851.1652 
New  York,  1914 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indiana 


DESCRIPTION 

OF  A  JOURNEY  AND  VISIT  TO  THE  PAWNEE  INDAINS,  WHO  LIVE  ON 
THE   PLATTE   RIVER,   A   TRIBUTARY   OF   THE   MISSOURI.   70 

MILES  FROM  ITS  MOUTH,  BY  THE  BftN.  GOTTLIEB  F.  OEHLER 

AND  DAVID  Z.  SMITH.    (April  22d— May  18th,  1851.) 

Having  in  the  course  of  the  winter  written  letters  of  in 
quiry  to  Mr.  Samuel  Allis,  teacher  of  a  government-school  for 
Pawnee  children,  and  Major  Barrow,  U.  S.  agent  for  the  Paw 
nees,  both  residing  at  Bellevue,  and  having  received  letters  from 
both,  of  an  encouraging  nature,  we  left  Westfield  on  the  morn 
ing  of  April  £2d,  on  our  intended  trip.  Br.  Paul  Oehler  ac 
companied  us  to  Weston,  in  order  to  take  the  wagon  back, 
which  was  to  convey  us  thither.  Passing  by  the  Baptist  mis 
sion-station,  Briggs'  Vale,  where  we  called  in  a  few  minutes,  we 
soon  struck  the  prairie,  which  we  kept  till  our  arrival  at  Fort 
Leavenworth,  about  twenty-four  miles  from  Westfield.  This  is 
a  very  pretty  prairie,  undulating,  and  at  places  quite  broken, 
with  here  and  there  a  high  bluff  or  mound,  rising  above  the  sur 
rounding  country.  "Pilot  Bluff,"  a  few  miles  from  Leaven- 
worth,  stands  picturesque  in  the  prairie,  and  affords  a  beau 
tiful  prospect.  We  passed  a  company  of  infantry  in  the 
prairie,  traveling  from  Fort  Leavenworth  to  Fort  Gibson.  The 
quartermaster  at  the  fort,  Mr.  Ogden,  with  whom  Br.  Oehler 
was  previously  acquainted,  received  us  very  courteously,  and 
gave  us  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  quartermaster  at  Fort 
Kearney,  in  case  we  should  be  obliged  to  go  that  way  on  our 
return  home  and  need  any  assistance. — Fort  Leavenworth  is 
eligibly  situated  on  a  high  prairie,  near  the  bank  of  the  Mis 
souri,  about  35  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Kansas  River.  It  is  a 
place  of  considerable  business,  in  the  way  of  furnishing  mili 
tary  stores  for  the  more  western  forts.  At  the  wharf  a  large 
storehouse  has  been  built  by  the  Government  for  the  purpose 
of  depositing  military  stores.  The  premises  are  kept  in  a  very 
neat  and  cleanly  condition,  and  a  large  garden  has  been  pre 
pared  near  by,  for  the  soldiers  to  raise  vegetables  for  their  use. 
After  crossing  the  Missouri  on  a  horse-boat,  which  is  kept  here 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  we  proceeded  towards  Wes 
ton,  situated  about  five  miles  above.  The  first  part  of  our  road 
lay  through  the  bottom,  in  wet  weather  almost  impassable  on 
account  of  the  mud,  but  at  present  dry,  though  rather  rough. 
The  latter  half  of  the  road  lapr  along  the  river,  on  the  side  of 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


the  bluff,  which  here  comes  close  up  to  the  river.  Along  the 
road,  we  noticed  many  sugar-maple  trees.  Towards  evening  we 
arrived  at  Weston,  a  place  of  considerable  trade,  having  about 
1,700  inhabitants.  We  had  expected  to  wait  at  Weston  for  a 
steamboat,  that  had  been  advertised  at  St.  Louis  for  the  upper 
Missouri,  but  as  she  had  at  the  latest  dates  deferred  the  time  of 
her  departure  from  St.  Louis,  and  the  river  was  in  a  very  low 
stage,  so  that  it  was  doubtful,  whether  after  her  arrival  here, 
she  could  run  up  any  further ;  and  hearing  of  a  four-horse  pas 
senger  coach,  running  from  Weston  to  Council  Bluffs  in  four 
days,  which  was  to  leave  early  in  the  morning,  we  concluded 
to  take  that,  April  23rd.  Early  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
we  started  from  Weston  in  the  stage.  Leaving  the  river  to 
our  left,  we  traveled  upon  the  bluffs,  which  here  run  close  up  to 
the  river,  the  bottom  of  the  Missouri  being  on  the  other  side. 
The  country  through  which  we  passed  is  a  broken  country, 
heavily  timbered  and  with  a  rich  soil.  At  8  o'clock  we  arrived 
at  Bloomington,  a  little  village  about  sixteen  miles  N.  W.  of 
Weston.  On  account  of  the  unusual  number  of  passengers, 
twenty-one  in  number,  the  stage  proprietor  had  to  furnish  an 
extra  four-horse  coach,  to  accommodate  all  This  being  the 
place  of  breakfast,  the  number  rather  took  our  worthy  host 
by  surprise,  and  it  seemed  to  give  him  no  small  anxiety  to  en 
tertain  so  large  a  company.  However,  by  11  o'clock  we  had 
all  breakfasted,  and  were  soon  again  in  motion,  the  road  still 
continuing  for  about  seven  miles  on  the  bluffs,  when  we  again 
descended  into  the  bottom,  which  widens  here  on  this  side  of 
the  river,  leaving  the  bluffs  more  to  our  right. 

We  now  traveled  over  a  very  rich  bottom  prairie  about 
seven  miles  to  St.  Joseph,  the  road  on  both  sides  lined  with 
farms.  The  soil  here  is  extremely  rich,  though  inclined  to  be 
wet  in  the  rainy  season.  St.  Joseph  is  a  thriving  town,  laid 
out  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  numbers  about  3,000  inhabitants ; 
situated  on  a  bluff  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Missouri.  Here 
we  were  informed  that  Major  Barrow,  the  Pawnee  agent,  had 
left  that  very  day  in  a  boat  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis.  The 
drinking  of  intoxicating  beverage  is  carried  on  to  a  great  ex 
tent  in  these  frontier  towns,  and  it  is  a  common  sight  to  meet 
with  drunken  men  in  the  streets. 

After  an  hour's  rest  at  St.  Joseph,  we  resumed  our  jour 
ney  for  Savannah,  our  stopping-place  for  the  night,  fourteen 
miles  distant.  The  roads  being  very  dusty,  traveling  by  stage 
at  present  is  rather  disagreeable.  We  passed  through  a  fer 
tile  and  well-timbered  country,  with  neat  cottages  and  beau 
tiful  farms  scattered  on  both  sides  of  the  road.  About  sunset 
we  arrived  at  Savannah.  The  country  around  this  place  is  the 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


prettiest  that  we  have  yet  seen  in  the  West.  The  town  is  situ 
ated  in  a  rolling  prairie,  with  some  timber  on  all  sides  in  view. 
The  whole  prairie  being  occupied  by  the  town  and  adjacent 
fields,  checkered  off  by  fences  into  lots  of  a  few  acres  each, 
gives  it  the  appearance  of  an  old-country  settlement,  though 
it  was  commenced  only  about  fourteen  years  ago.  Land  here 
sells  from  fifteen  to  twenty  dollars  per  acre.  The  village  num 
bers  about  800  inhabitants.  The  houses  are  mostly  one-story 
frame,  neatly  painted  white,  with  brick  chimneys,  surrounded 
by  neat  yards  and  grass-plots.  Almost  every  house  is  fur 
nished  with  a  lightning-rod,  which  struck  us  as  something 
rather  unusual  in  this  western  country.  The  whole  scenery 
around  reminded  us  forcibly  of  the  landscape  around  Bethle 
hem,  Pa.  In  the  village  three  churches,  all  of  brick,  have  been 
erected,  belonging  to  the  O.  S.  and  N.  S.  Presbyterians,  and 
Campbellites.  The  courthouse,  a  brick  edifice,  stands  in  the 
centre  of  the  town,  in  an  open  square.  A  few  days  ago  two 
destructive  fires  occurred  in  the  village,  consuming  a  whole  row 
of  houses  facing  the  square,  and  destroying  property  to  the 
amount  of  20,000  dollars,  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  incen 
diaries.  We  were  detained  here  two  days,  the  coach  from 
above,  in  which  we  were  to  proceed,  instead  of  arriving  on  the 
evening  of  the  23rd,  did  not  come  in  till  the  evening  of  the  25th. 
26th.  At  length,  after  breakfast,  we  were  enabled  to  leave 
Savannah  and  proceed  on  our  journey.  Our  traveling  company 
was  very  disagreeable,  being  shockingly  profane.  In  traveling 
in  these  parts  one  might  almost  suppose  that  all  the  inhabi 
tants  were  given  to  profanity,  and  the  name  of  God  and  of  the 
Savior  is  used  in  the  most  revolting  manner.  As  we  traveled 
on  the  country  continued  more  or  less  broken,  the  timber  be 
coming  scarcer  the  further  North  we  proceeded.  Oregon, 
through  which  we  passed  in  the  afternoon,  is  a  newly  settled 
but  thriving  town,  with  a  tolerably  populous  neighborhood. 
Soon  after  leaving  Oregon  we  left  the  bluffs  to  our  right  and 
descended  into  a  most  beautiful  bottom  country,  bordering  on 
the  Missouri  River.  The  bottom  is  about  ten  or  twelve  miles 
wide,  quite  level,  bounded  by  a  line  of  high  bluffs  to  the  right 
hand,  at  the  base  of  which  our  road  lay.  About  five  or  six  miles 
off  to  our  left  a  strip  of  timber  (the  only  to  be  seen)  from 
four  to  five  miles  wide  skirted  the  river  all  the  rest  of  the  bot 
tom,  and  the  neighboring  high  bluffs  were  one  continued  prairie. 
The  soil  is  splendid,  but  all  the  most  eligible  sites  are  already 
occupied  by  settlers,  who  hold  their  claims  at  enormous  prices. 
Timber  is  very  scarce,  and  so  is  stone.  Not  a  pebble  is  to  be 
seen  either  on  the  bluffs,  or  in  the  bottom.  The  settlers  are 
obliged  to  resort  to  ditching  and  mud- fencing.  This  is  done 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


by  digging  two  ditches  in  a  line  about  six  feet  apart,  and  piling 
up  the  sod  and  ground  on  the  intervening  space  to  form  a 
wall.  At  4  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Jackson's,  thirty-two  miles 
from  Savannah,  the  end  of  our  day's  ride. 

27th.  Left  Jackson's  after  breakfast.  Our  company  was 
very  annoying  to  us,  on  account  of  their  shocking  profanity, 
but  we  were  obliged  to  endure  it  with  patience.  After  con 
tinuing  for  several  miles  further  through  the  above-mentioned 
rich  bottom  prairie,  we  again  ascended  the  bluffs  to  our  right, 
traveling  all  day,  mostly  through  hilly  prairie,  timber  being 
very  scarce.  After  a  ride  of  about  thirty  miles  we  arrived  at 
a  little  village  named  Linden,  at  4  o'clock,  P.  M.  Here  our 
driver  informed  us  that  his  horses  (having  traveled  nearly  forty 
miles  to-day)  were  tired  and  worn  out,  and  that  he  thought 
they  could  hardly  travel  any  further.  After  tea,  however,  he 
said  that  he  would  try  and  take  us  a  few  miles  further.  We, 
therefore,  proceeded  till  it  was  quite  dark,  but  there  being  a 
portion  of  the  road  before  us  rather  dangerous  to  travel  in  the 
dark  we  stopped  for  the  night  at  a  post  office,  where  we  were 
well  accommodated  with  beds.  We  were  now  in  the  State  of 
Iowa,  having  crossed  the  line  between  that  state  and  Missouri 
a  few  miles  back. 

28th.  Early  at  4  o'clock  we  were  again  stirring.  By 
sunrise  we  came  to  the  valley  or  bottom  of  the  Nishnebottona, 
which  river  we  crossed  on  a  wooden  toll-bridge,  newly  erected. 
After  breakfast  we  again  struck  the  bluffs  and  traveled  all  day 
through  an  extensive  prairie  country,  broken,  very  fertile,  but 
lacking  timber.  The  country  here  has  been  but  lately  settled, 
but  it  would  be  more  thickly  inhabited  if  timber  were  more 
plenty.  This  is  all  "claimed,"  and  the  claims  are  held  at  an 
enormous  price.  To-day  we  saw  many  houses  covered  with 
prairie-sod,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  board  timber;  the 
day  previous  we  had  alread}7  passed  many  houses,  the  chim 
neys  of  which  were  made  of  prairie-sod,  which  seems  to  be  quite 
durable.  The  further  north  we  proceeded  the  scarcer  the  tim 
ber  became  along  the  water  courses.  Some  of  the  streams  run 
through  the  prairie  with  no  timber  lining  them.  We  had 
reached  the  end  of  our  journey,  to  within  five  miles,  when  we 
took  in  a  way-passenger,  a  Mormon,  who  was  from  Ohio,  trav 
eling  to  see  his  brethren  of  the  faith  at  Kanesville,  a  few  miles 
above  Trading  Pt.,  at  the  Council  Bluffs.  We  soon  got  into 
a  conversation  with  him,  and,  thinking  from  our  inquiries  that 
we  were  inquirers  after  the  Mormon  faith,  he  proceeded  to  give 
us  an  account  of  their  religious  opinions,  telling  us  about  the 
three  apostacies  from  the  time  of  Noah  to  the  time  when  the 
great  prophet,  Joe  Smith,  arose  in  1830!  These  three  apos- 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


tacies,  according  to  their  opinion,  are:  1st,  the  general  apos- 
tacy  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  idolatry ;  2dly,  the  apos- 
tacy  of  the  Jews,  and  3dly  the  appostacy  of  the  different  sects 
calling  themselves  christians,  etc. 

About  sunset  we  arrived  at  Trading  Point,  the  com 
mencement  of  a  continuation  of  bluffs  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
called  "Council  Bluffs."  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  is 
Bellevue,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Allis,  who  keeps  a  government- 
school  for  Pawnee  children,  and  of  the  Pawnee,  Otoe  and  Oma- 
haw  Agent,  Maj.  Barrow;  there  are  also  here  two  trading  es 
tablishments,  and  blacksmith-shops  for  the  Indians ;  about  a 
mile  below,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  is  the  Mission  Station 
of  the  General  Assembly's  (O.  S.)  Board,  among  the  Otoes 
and  Omahaws,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  E.  McKin- 
ney.  Immediately  after  our  arrival  at  Trading  Point  we  had 
a  conversation  with  Mr.  Allis,  who  happened  to  be  on  that  side 
of  the  river.  He  told  us  that  he  and  Mr.  McKinney  had  been 
expecting  our  arrival,  and  that  the  Pawnees,  to  whom  he  had 
mentioned  our  intention  of  coming  to  see  them,  were  anxiously 
awaiting  us. 

$9th.  During  the  night  we  experienced  one  of  those  sud 
den  changes  common  to  this  country ;  in  the  morning  when  we 
awoke  the  wind  was  blowing  a  gale,  and  it  was  snowing  very 
fast.  About  10  o'clock  we  thought  we  would  venture  to  cross 
the  Missouri  to  the  opposite  side ;  the  attempt  was  accom 
panied  with  great  peril  to  our  lives.  The  wind  beat  the  water 
into  the  skiff,  the  ferryman's  hands  became  so  benumbed  that 
he  could  hardly  pull  the  oars  any  more,  and  by  the  combined 
effect  of  the  gale  and  current  we  drifted  about  a  mile  below 
the  usual  landing-place.  Mr.  Allis  stood  watching  on  shore, 
ready  to  help  us,  and  as  soon  as  the  skiff  touched  the  bank 
he  held  to  it,  and  having  fastened  it  he  assisted  us  with  our 
trunks  up  the  steep  bank.  Having  proceeded  to  his  house,  we 
were  glad  to  warm  our  numb  limbs  by  the  fire.  The  provisions, 
for  the  accommodation  of  Mr.  Allis'  family  and  Pawnee  chil 
dren,  are  wretched,  right  on  the  bank  of  the  Missouri.  The 
dwelling  which  is  occupied  by  them  was  formerly  a  trading  es 
tablishment  and  is  almost  in  ruins.  The  family,  besides  ten  or 
twelve  Pawnee  children,  and  several  white  children,  are  obliged 
to  live  in  one  small  room,  the  only  one  hardly  fit  to  be  occu 
pied,  about  eighteen  feet  square,  which  serves  for  parlor,  sit 
ting-room,  and  kitchen,  and  a  sleeping  apartment  for  the  chil 
dren  above.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allis  are  devoted  missionaries.  They 
were  among  the  first  missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  who 
nearly  twenty  years  ago  commenced  a  mission  among  the  Paw 
nees  ;  since  the  abandonment  of  that  mission  a  few  years  ago, 


8          Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


on  account  of  the  hostile  incursions  of  the  Sioux,  they  have 
been  laboring  here  at  Bellevue,  in  a  most  exemplary  manner,  for 
the  improvement  of  the  Pawnee  children  in  their  charge.  Gov 
ernment  allows  them  the  sum  of  500  dollars  annually  for  the 
support  of  the  school,  which,  however,  is  barely  sufficient  to 
defray  their  expenses.  Under  the  most  discouraging  circum 
stances,  combating  with  much  sickness  in  the  family,  on  ac 
count  of  the  location  and  dilapidated  condition  of  the  build 
ings,  they  have  still  held  out,  and  toiled  for  the  good  of  the 
children  under  their  charge,  to  whom  they  seem  to  have  the 
same  attachment  as  to  children  of  their  own.  They  are  both 
becoming  considerably  advanced  in  years  and  begin  to  feel  the 
effects  of  their  self-denying  labors.  They  are  loth  to  surrender 
these  interesting  children  to  their  heathen  friends,  on  account 
of  the  want  of  necessary  provisions  for  their  future  advance 
ment,  and  are  anxious  that  further  efforts  should  be  made  for 
their  benefit.  At  the  same  time  they  are  desirous  of  resigning 
their  charge  as  soon  as  they  can  give  them  up  into  other 
hands,  who  will  seek  their  improvement.  Government  is  un 
willing  to  make  any  further  provision  for  better  buildings  for 
the  Pawnee  school  here,  but  would  probably  be  willing  to  fur 
nish  the  necessary  means  for  the  same  in  the  Pawnee  country, 
whither,  however,  Mr.  Allis  is  unwilling  to  go  on  account  of  the 
check  they  formerly  received  from  the  Sioux.  After  dinner  Mr. 
Allis  accompanied  us  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Sharpee,  who  has 
been  extensively  trading  with  the  Indian  tribes  in  these  parts 
for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  who  expressed  his  satisfaction 
at  the  object  for  which  we  had  arrived.  He  said  that  some  of 
the  Pawnees  had  lately  expressed  their  uneasiness  lest  we  might 
not  come,  but  that  he  had  given  them  the  assurance  that  we 
would  arrive  in  a  few  days,  and  he  was  therefore  the  more  re 
joiced,  since  what  he  had  told  them  had  now  come  to  pass. 
On  our  way  to  Mr.  Sharpee's  we  met  several  Pawnees,  who, 
when  Mr.  Allis  announced  to  them  that  we  were  the  men  whom 
they  were  expecting,  came  up  to  us  in  the  most  friendly  man 
ner,  and  taking  us  by  the  hand,  gave  us  a  hearty  shake,  say 
ing:  "Lo-wa!  Tapooska;"  i.e.,  "good,"  or  "how  do  you  do, 
teacher."  We  next  proceeded  to  the  Presbyterian  mission- 
station,  about  a  mile  distant,  where  we  were  to  make  our  stay, 
till  our  preparations  for  visiting  the  Pawnees  should  have  been 
consummated.  The  mission-houses  are  pleasantly  situated  on 
a  high  bluff  facing  the  Missouri  River,  with  a  bottom  prairie 
about  a  mile  wide  from  bluff  to  river.  The  level  on  which  the 
houses  stand  extends  about  half  a  mile  in  the  rear,  with  a 
gradual  ascent,  till  it  meets  another  line  of  bluffs  rising  still 
higher.  The  houses  were  originally  enclosed  by  pickets,  which, 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians         9 


however,  are  decaying  and  falling  down,  and  it  is  probably  the 
intention  of  the  missionaries  to  remove  them  altogether,  as 
such  fortifications,  though  they  may  guard  against  depreda 
tions  of  the  Indians,  still  have  a  tendency  of  creating  prej 
udices  on  their  part.  Our  reception  at  the  mission  was  very 
cordial,  and  we  had  reason  for  thankfulness  to  the  Lord  in 
providing  such  kind  friends  for  us.  The  superintendent  of  this 
mission  is  the  Rev.  E.  McKinney,  who  previously  to  his  com 
mencing  the  mission  among  the  Otoes  and  Omahaws,  had  been 
laboring  among  the  Creeks  and  Choctaws.  They  have  at  pres 
ent  about  thirty-five  children  and  youth  in  the  institution, 
Otoes  and  Omahaws,  and  a  few  Puncaws  and  Pawnees.  On 
our  introduction  to  the  children,  the  Pawnee  children  pushed 
themselves  in  advance  of  all  the  rest,  in  order  to  be  the  first 
in  shaking  hands  with  us,  thinking  they  had  the  best  right  to 
us,  who  were  going  to  visit  their  people.  The  two  tribes,  the 
Otoes  and  Omahaws,  among  whom  this  mission  is  located,  are 
still,  like  all  the  western  prairie  tribes  in  their  originally  sav 
age  state,  not  having  as  yet,  like  the  eastern  tribes  of  Indians 
on  the  North  American  continent,  made  any  advancement  in 
civilization,  until  within  a  few  years  having  lived  remote  from 
the  good  as  well  as  the  evil  influences  of  the  whites.  The  greater 
part  of  the  year  they  roam,  like  the  other  prairie  Indians,  over 
the  extensive  prairies  on  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
chasing  the  buffalo,  which  is  the  same  to  them  as  the  seal  is  to 
the  Greenlander.  Their  proximity  to  the  whites,  however,  and 
the  facilities  afforded  them  for  obtaining  intoxicating  liquors, 
during  the  short  time  that  they  remain  at  their  villages,  has 
latterly  had  a  demoralizing  and  degenerating  effect  upon  them, 
and  the  counteracting  influence  of  the  gospel  seems  as  yet  to 
have  made  no  visible  impression  upon  any  of  them.  Still  the 
missionaries,  who  are  laboring  here,  are  sowing  the  seed  in 
tears,  trusting  to  the  promise  of  our  Lord:  "Cast  thy  bread 
upon  the  waters,  for  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days."  And 
surely,  when  we  look  back  at  the  labors  of  our  first  missionaries 
among  the  heathen,  and  consider  how  the  Lord  eventually 
crowned  their  toils,  who  will  doubt  His  ability  and  willingness 
to  do  the  same  thing  at  the  present  day,  when  even  the  heathen 
tribes  are  begging  to  have  missionaries  among  them — an  in 
stance  of  which  we  witnessed  at  a  council,  which  Mr.  McKin 
ney  held  with  a  delegation  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Pun- 
caws,  a  tribe  of  wild  Indians  living  about  150  miles  up  the 
Missouri,  who  had  come  to  Council  Bluffs  expressly  for  the 
purpose  of  soliciting  missionaries.  The  following  is  a  speech 
which  the  principal  speaker  made  to  Mr.  McKinney : 


10        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


"My  Father, — I  wished  to  see  you  a  long  time  already.  I 
am  now  here.  My  heart  is  glad  that  I  can  now  at  length  be 
hold  your  face.  My  heart  is  now  as  clear  as  this  pleasant  and 
bright  day.  I  see  you  do  a  great  deal  for  these  children  here,, 
and  I  wish  you  would  do  something  for  my  people.  I  am  a 
fool, — I  have  no  sense, — but  you  have  knowledge.  You  have 
the  words  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  I  wish  you  therefore  to> 
come  to  us,  and  teach  us." 

Besides  these,  it  is  reported  by  traders,  that  the  Sioux 
(Soos),  a  powerful  tribe  numbering  about  25,000  souls,  living 
North  of  the  Puncaws,  and  other  tribes  to  the  North  are  also 
anxious  to  have  missionaries  among  them.  What  a  wide  field 
for  missionary  labor!  And  still  we  must  hear  the-  remark  so 
often  made  by  Christians  in  the  East,  so  painful  to  our  ears: 
"There  is  no  use  in  having  missionaries  among  the  Indians — 
no  good  can  be  effected  among  the  Indians — better  send  the 
missionaries  who  are  laboring  among  the  Indians,  and  appro 
priate  the  funds  spent  for  missions  and  schools  among  them, 
to  some  other  heathen  field."  From  what  we  have  witnessed 
on  our  excursion  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  our  subsequent  visit 
to  the  Pawnees,  we  confidently  express  the  opinion  that  we  can 
nowhere  expect  heathen  nations,  with  the  contracted  ideas  that 
these  people  have  of  the  nature  of  the  gospel,  to  be  more 
anxious  to  have  missionaries  among  them.  And  we  cannot 
otherwise  than  denounce  expressions  like  the  above,  as  not 
breathing  the  spirit  of  our  Lord  and  Savior,  who  has  enjoined 
the  command  upon  his  followers  to  "go  and  preach  his  gospel 
to  every  creature"  Furthermore,  from  what  we  have  seen  and 
heard,  we  firmly  believe  that  the  Lord  is  preparing  a  wide 
door  for  the  preaching  of  his  gospel  among  the  Western  and 
North  Western  prairie  tribes,  and  the  Macedonian  cry  is  ring 
ing  in  the  land:  "Come  over  and  help  us!"  We  solemnly  put 
the  question  to  such  objectors  to  our  Indian  missions:  Where 
lies  the  fault  that  so  little  has  been  done  in  latter  years  by  the 
Brethren  among  the  Indians?  that  our  missions  among  the 
Indians  have  been  stagnant — yes,  we  may  truly  say,  retro 
grading  for  so  many  years?  Shall  it  be  attributed  to  the  In 
dians,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  are  truly  anxious  to  receive  the 
gospel?  Or  shall  we  admit,  that  the  blessed  gospel  of  our 
Savior  has  not  that  power  over  the  Indians  that  it  has  over 
other  nations?  that  there  is  a  deficiency  in  the  gospel  in  not 
being  able  to  subdue  the  obdurate  heart  of  the  red  man?  Shall 
we  doubt  for  a  moment  the  incapacity  of  the  Lord  in  blessing 
the  faithful  preaching  of  his  word  with  the  outpourings  of  his 
Spirit?  Or  is  there  a  deficiency  in  the  plan  of  salvation  that 
Indians  should  be  excluded  from  the  glorious  privileges  of  the 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians       11 


same?  Or  have  we  forgotten  the  history  of  our  first  missions 
•among  them,  the  piety  and  consistent  Christian  lives  of  our 
.first  Indian  converts,  their  persecutions  from  their  heathen 
brethren,  and  their  sufferings  even  unto  death  for  the  sake  of 
the  gospel?  If  we  wish  to  find  where  the  fault  lies  we  must 
look  for  it  in  our  own  hearts.  There  it  is.  There  is  a  lack  of 
that  missionary  spirit  which  actuated  our  forefathers!  There 
is  a  lack  of  that  true  Spirit  of  our  Savior,  who  in  his  mission 
ary  capacity  to  a  world  of  sinners  has  set  us  a  pattern  to  fol 
low.  We  have  sadly  degenerated,  and  the  spirit  of  the  world 
has  taken  a  powerful  hold  upon  our  minds ;  and  it  is  meet  for 
us  all  seriously,  earnestly,  prayerfully,  to  cry :  "Turn  us  unto 
thee,  oh!  Lord,  and  we  shall  be  turned;  renew  our  days  as  of 
old!"— 

In  order  to  make  our  visit  from  Bellevue  to  the  Pawnees, 
it  was  necessary  that  we  should  be  well  supplied  with  pro 
visions,  as  the  Pawnees  were  at  present  very  much  straitened 
for  the  necessaries  of  life.  These  Mr.  McKinney  kindly  volun 
teered  to  furnish  us  with,  besides  sufficient  extra  to  make  a 
small  feast  of  cracker  and  coffee  for  the  chiefs  of  each  village. 
Mr.  Allis  was  recommended  to  us  by  all  as  the  best  interpreter, 
and  on  account  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  Pawnees,  and  hav 
ing  their  good  will,  it  was  altogether  an  advantage  to  us  to 
secure  his  kind  offices,  which  he  was  willing  to  afford.  Mr. 
Sharpee  promised  to  furnish  us  two  mules,  and  Mr.  Reed,  the 
farmer  at  the  mission,  gave  us  the  use  of  his  light  two-horse 
wagon.  Thus  before  the  close  of  the  week  our  arrangements 
were  made  to  commence  our  journey  to  the  Pawnees  the  fol 
lowing  Monday,  May  5th. 

Sunday,  May  the  4th. — We  were  both  called  upon  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  meetings  to-day  at  the  Presbyterian  mis 
sion.  As  it  is  very  unusual  for  any  adult  Indians  to  attend 
these  meetings  on  the  Lord's  day,  the  exercises  are  conducted 
altogether  in  the  English  language.  In  the  forenoon  there  is 
Sunday  school  for  the  children  of  the  institution.  At  about  £ 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  there  is  public  preaching,  which,  besides  all  at 
the  mission,  Mr.  Allis  and  his  Pawnee  children,  and  some  of  the 
white  families  from  Bellevue,  attend.  In  the  evening  there  is  a 
meeting  in  which  a  discourse  is  addressed  particularly  to  the 
Indian  children,  but  which  is  attended  by  all.  In  these  even 
ing  meetings  different  scripture  truths  are  presented  to  the 
children  in  a  simple  narrative  style,  and  not  only  the  children 
themselves,  but  also  those  employed  in  the  mission,  seem  to  be 
very  much  interested  in  these  instructive  meetings. 

In  the  afternoon  br.  Oehler,  in  company  with  Mr.  Reed, 
the  farmer  of  the  mission,  visited  the  village  of  the  Omahaws, 


12        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


about  four  miles  distant.  Their  village  being  similar  to  those 
of  the  Pawnees,  we  will  refer  the  reader  to  a  subsequent  page 
for  a  description. 

5th. — A  considerable  part  of  the  forenoon  having  been 
spent  before  the  mules  were  caught  on  the  prairie  and  brought 
in,  and  Mr.  Sharpee  promising,  if  we  would  wait  till  the  follow 
ing  day,  he  would  accompany  us  to  the  Pawness,  in  order  to  in 
quire  of  them  whether  any  of  their  young  men  had  stolen  a 
horse  he  had  lost  a  few  nights  ago,  Mr.  Allis  and  ourselves  de 
termined  to  wait  for  him,  as  he  had  an  extensive  knowledge  of 
the  Indians,  and  of  travelling  on  the  "plains,"  as  the  large 
prairies  are  here  called,  and  might  on  that  account  be  of  great 
service  to  us.  An  under-chief  of  the  Loup  Pawnees,  by  the 
name  of  Gatarritatkutz  (Bix  Axe)  was  also  waiting,  in  order 
to  accompany  us. 

6th. — At  length  we  were  ready  to  commence  our  journey 
from  here  to  the  Pawnees,  about  9  o'clock,  accompanied  by 
the  best  wishes  of  our  kind  friends  at  the  mission,  and  with  the 
encouraging  Daily  Word:  ikl  will  make  an  everlasting  cove 
nant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David,"  (Is.  55:3) 
with  the  Doctrinal  text :  "There  is  one  body  and  one  spirit, 
even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling :  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above 
all,  and  through  all."  (Eph.  4<:4-6.)  •  "In  doctrine  and  in 
practice  one, — We'll  love  and  serve  the  Lord  alone ; — With  one 
accord  sound  forth  His  praise, — Till  we  shall  see  His  face." 

The  ideas  of  leaving  the  abodes  of  civilization,  and  trav 
elling,  unarmed  and  unguarded  by  a  competent  force  of  men, 
in  the  land  of  numerous  savages,  had  a  tendency  to  cause  every 
dependence  upon  an  arm  of  flesh  to  vanish,  while  we  could  put 
our  confidence  upon  the  all-powerful  arm  of  our  Savior,  in 
whose  cause  we  had  undertaken  this  journey  among  wild  un 
tutored  barbarians,  and  who  watches  over  his  people  every 
where.  (Ps.  139.) 

Our  course  to-day  was  N.  W.  and  W.,  taking  the  great 
road  travelled  by  the  emigrants,  on  leaving  the  Bluffs  for  Ore 
gon,  the  Salt  Lake,  or  California. 

The  road  was  very  dry  and  dusty,  and  the  wind  coming 
from  the  West  blew  the  dust  in  our  faces,  by  which  we  were 
very  much  incommoded.  After  leaving  Bellevue,  and  ascend 
ing  the  bluff,  which  brought  us  on  the  level  of  the  high  prairie, 
a  beautiful  prospect  presented  itself.  Before  us,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  was  the  wide  prairie  extending  to  the  horizon; 
on  our  right  were  clumps  of  timber  skirting  both  banks  of  the 
Missouri,  bounded  by  the  bluffs  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        13 


with  the  Mormon  .settlement  of  Kanesville,  beautifully  spread 
out  before  us,  situated  in  one  of  the  valleys  between  the  bluffs 
about  six  or  eight  miles  distant,  beyond  the  river;  on  our  left, 
in  the  middle  ground,  lay  the  valleys  of  the  Great  and  Little 
Papilion,  with  the  Omahaw  village,  like  a  cluster  of  potatoe 
hills,  situated  on  the  opposite  bank,  near  their  confluence,  with 
here  and  there  a  clump  of  timber  along  both  streams,  while 
far  away  in  the  distance  could  plainly  be  distinguished  the  val 
ley  of  the  Platte,  with  the  timber,  growing  on  its  numerous 
islands. 

After  proceeding  some  five  miles  in  the  prairie,  we  met  a 
large  train  of  Oregon  emigrants,  who,  by  some  interested  per 
son,  had  been  induced  to  turn  about,  in  order  to  take  a  road, 
which  would  lead  them  to  another  ferry  on  the  Elkhorn  river, 
(a  branch  of  the  Platte,)  and  although  Mr.  Sharpee  represented 
to  them  that  the  road  they  had  been  travelling  was  the  better, 
still  his  representations  were  of  no  avail,  and  they  preferred 
to  travel  a  route  15  or  ^0  miles  further  than  ours,  and  much 
worse  bridged  across  the  mudholes.  A  large  company  of  wild 
Indians  (Omahaws)  was  hovering  on  horseback  around  the 
train,  watching  a  favorable  opportunity  to  steal  something,  or 
perchance,  should  a  beef  stray  some  distance  from  the  rest, 
(  a  good  opportunity  for  which  was  given  by  their  turning  back 
again,)  to  drive  it  behind  a  bluff  and  slay  it. 

The  sight  of  a  large  train  of  20  or  30  wagons,  travelling 
in  long  single  file,  writh  four  or  more  yoke  of  oxen  or  cows 
attached  to  each,  is  really  picturesque ;  and  we  had  frequently 
the  opportunity  on  our  journey  of  beholding  such  a  long  line 
of  white-covered  wagons,  presenting,  at  a  distance  of  several 
miles,  a  beautiful  appearance.  During  the  day  we  passed  sev 
eral  trains,  destined  for  Oregon,  Salt  Lake,  or  California.  In 
the  Oregon  trains  we  observed  many  cows  yoked  in  teams,  be 
sides  numbers  of  them  driven  along  loose;  milchcows  command 
ing  a  high  price  in  Oregon. 

When  the  sun  had  nearly  reached  the  western  horizon,  we 
arrived  at  our  camping  ground, — a  small  clump  of  trees  on  the 
Great  Papilion, — a  spot  generally  selected  by  the  emigrants, 
at  the  end  of  the  first  day's  travel,  west  of  the  Bluffs.  The 
animals  in  our  tram,  consisting  of  a  horse,  a  pony,  belonging 
to  our  Pawnee  friend,  and  two  mules,  were  first  driven  to  the 
water,  of  which  they  stood  in  great  need.  The  horse  was  then 
hobbled,  i.e.,  a  rope  tied  around  both  forelegs,  so  short,  as 
merely  to  enable  it  to  get  along  slowly  to  graze,  and  to  hinder  it 
from  straying  too  far  away.  The  pony  and  the  two  mules 
were  secured  by  means  of  a  rope  about  30  feet  long,  tied  around 
the  neck  of  each,  and  dragging  behind  them,  so  as  to  facilitate 


14        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


the  catching  of  them  again  on  the  following  morning.  We  then 
pitched  our  tent  for  the  night,  and  having  built  a  fire,  pro 
ceeded  to  prepare  some  coffee,  which  was  peculiarly  acceptable 
after  a  fatiguing  day's  travel.  Our  store  of  provisions  con 
sisted  of  about  a  bushel  of  ship  crackers,  a  boilt  ham,  and  some 
molasses  in  an  India  rubber  flask,  all  of  which  were  provided  by 
our  kind  friend,  Mr.  McKinney.  We  had  hardly  camped  be 
fore  the  trains  commenced  pouring  in  for  the  night,  and  even 
late  in  the  night  they  continued  to  arrive,  so  that  by  morning 
the  place  was  covered  with  tents  and  wagons,  and  swarming 
with  people,  horses,  mules  and  cattle. 

7th. — At  an  early  hour  we  were  again  moving,  in  order  to 
reach  the  Elkhorn  Ferry  before  any  of  the  trains  should  take 
the  precedence,  whereby  we  would  have  been  detained.  We  had 
first  to  cross  the  Papilion  on  a  bridge,  and  as  it  was  very  nar 
row,  and  the  road  leading  to  it  very  steep,  we  were  obliged  to 
unharness  the  mules  from  the  wagon,  lest  they  might,  by  push 
ing  one  another,  precipitate  the  wagon  and  themselves  into  the 
stream  and  mud  below.  The  wagon  was  then  pulled  across  the 
bridge  by  hand.  Ascending  the  opposite  hill,  we  were  again  on 
the  high  prairie.  Before  us,  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant, 
could  be  discovered  the  timber  of  the  Elkhorn,  which  we  ex 
pected  to  cross  before  noon; — to  our  right  we  could  yet  per 
ceive  the  timber  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  Old  Council  Bluffs, 
where  formerly  there  was  a  fort  for  the  protection  of  the  trad 
ers  ; — and  to  our  left  the  timber  of  the  Platte. — 

Arrived  at  the  Elkhorn,  we  saw  a  considerable  number  of 
Pawnees,  who  all  appeared  glad  at  our  coming  to  visit  them. 
Here  we  learnt  that  #  slight  affray  had  taken  place  the  day 
before,  between  some  Pawnees  and  a  train  of  emigrants.  The 
readers  of  the  Miscellany  have  perhaps  read  of  such  cases  in 
the  newspapers,  headed:  "Depredation  of  the  Pawnees  (or  some 
other  Indians)  upon  a  train  of  emigrants,"  and  the  like,  where 
the  blame  is  generally  attached  to  the  Indians.  I  think  it  is 
due  to  the  Indians  to  state  here  that  the  fault  does  not  always 
lie  with  them,  but  very  often  with  the  wh'tes.  The  road  of 
the  emigrants  lies  through  the  country  belonging  to  the  In 
dians ; — their  hunting-grounds  are  traversed  by  the  long  lines 
of  white-covered  wagons,  and  the  buffaloes,  the  principal  sub 
sistence  of  the  Indians,  are  thereby  chased  away  to  more  dis 
tant  and  more  secluded  pastures,  perhaps  to  regions  where 
it  would  be  unsafe  for  them  to  hunt,  on  account  of  other  tribes 
inimical  to  them;  and  they  have  thereby  been  reduced  to  pov 
erty  and  want.  For  all  these  privations  they  have  been  prom 
ised  presents,  as  a  compensation,  from  our  Government,  but 
thus  far  they  have  received  nothing.  So  when  the  emigrants 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        15 


are  passing  through  their  country,  they  frequently  apply  to 
them  for  tobacco,  or  some  other  small  presents.  It  seems  that 
in  the  above  instance,  while  the  Pawnees  were  hovering  around 
the  train,  they  were  refused  a  present,  and  one  of  the  men, 
with  the  ox-whip,  struck  an  Indian,  who  came  near,  which,  of 
course,  roused  the  feelings  of  the  Indians.  These  accordingly 
drove  off  a  beef  or  two,  which  were  then  despatched. — 

The  Elkhorn  at  this  place  is  a  deep  and  rapid  stream, 
about  20  yards  wide.  Two  French  halfbreeds  are  living 
here,  in  order  to  keep  a  ferry  for  the  emigrants. — Having 
passed  over  the  Elkhorn,  our  road  lay  across  a  bottom  prairie 
extending  between  the  Elkhorn  and  Platte  rivers.  We  now 
turned  off  from  the  wagon  road,  taking  the  village  for  our 
landmark ;  without  any  track  across  the  prairie,  and  soon  ar 
rived  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Platte. — The  grass  being  some 
what  more  advanced  in  the  bottom  than  on  the  high  bluff  on 
the  opposite  side,  where  the  village  is  situated,  the  Pawnees 
had  turned  their  ponies  to  graze  in  the  bottom,  watched  by 
the  women  and  children. — Many  women  were  also  engaged  in 
digging  for  roots  with  their  hoes,  provisions  being  at  present 
very  scarce  among  them.  We  were  soon  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  young  men,  women  and  children,  who  by  their  smiling  coun 
tenances  seemed  to  bid  us  welcome. — It  is  difficult  to  describe 
our  feelings  on  the  present  occasion.  We  were  now  in  sight 
of  the  village,  where  the  people  lived,  whom  we  had  come  to 
visit,  in  order  to  give  them  the  opportunity  of  accepting  or 
rejecting  the  offer  of  having  Missionaries  to  live  among  them, 
to  lead  them  to  the  Savior  of  sinners.  A  wide  stream,  over  a 
mile  across,  separated  us  from  the  object  of  our  journey,  and 
could  not  be  crossed  without  getting  assistance  from  the  very 
people,  for  whose  benefit  we  had  come.  From  the  conversation 
of  Mr.  Allis  and  Mr.  Sharpee  with  the  Indians  there  seemed 
to  be  some  difficulty  in  getting  help,  originating  in  a  jealousy 
existing  between  the  Chief  in  our  company  and  the  principal 
Chief  of  the  village.  Meantime  it  commenced  raining,  and  a 
strong,  chilly  wind  was  blowing,  which  forced  us  to  wrap  our 
selves  in  our  blankets.  In  this  perplexity  nearly  an  hour  was 
spent.  At  length  a  messenger  was  despatched  across  the  river 
to  inform  the  principal  chief  of  the  village,  Siskatuppe,  of  our 
arrival,  with  the  request  that  he  would  send  us  some  men  to 
assist  us  to  cross.  After  another  hour's  patient  waiting  we 
were  cheered  by  seeing  the  chief  with  about  twenty  men  com 
ing  to  our  help. — The  ford  of  the  river  is  only  about  four  feet 
at  the  deepest  places,  but  what  makes  this  river  peculiarly  peri 
lous  in  crossing  is  the  shifting  quicksand  at  the  bottom,  so  that, 
while  crossing,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  constantly  moving; — for 


16        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


the  moment  a  person  stops  he  begins  to  sink  on  account  of  the 
uncertain  foothold. — Our  baggage  was  placed  upon  the  backs 
of  Pawnees,  who  immediately  started  off'  with  their  load.  The 
mules  having  been  unharnessed,  and  the  harness  placed  in  the 
\vagon,  a  long  rope  was  tied  from  the  end  of  the  tongue  of  the 
wagon  to  each  single-tree.  The  Pawnees  then  took  hold  of 
the  rope,  while  some  pushed  behind  at  the  wagon,  and  thus  pro 
ceeded  into  the  river.  Mr.  Sharpee  kindly  offered  br.  Smith 
his  horse,  while  he  and  br.  Oehler  each  took  a  mule,  and  Mr. 
Allis  borrowed  a  pony  of  the  Pawnees,  the  mounted  men  tak 
ing  up  the  rear.  A  full  half  hour  was  consumed  in  crossing, 
and  passing  over  two  islands  on  our  route.  At  length  we 
readied  the  opposite  bank,  where  we  were  greeted  by  numbers 
of  Pawnees,  who  were  awaiting  our  arrival.  A  difficulty  which 
now  presented  itself  before  us  was  to  get  the  wagon  up  the 
steep  bluff,  the  sides  of  which  had  become  slippery  by  the  fall 
ing  rain.  To  obviate  this  difficulty  it  was  necesary  to  go 
nearly  a  mile  down  the  river,  through  their  cornfields,  in  the 
bottom,  to  a  place  where  it  was  not  quite  so  steep  as  else 
where. — At  length,  being  arrived  at  the  village,  we  found,  in 
spite  of  the  rain,  crowds  standing  around  the  chief's  lodge,  to 
receive  and  to  welcome  the  misisonaries. — 

Having  secured  everything  loose  about  the  wagon  that 
might  be  liable  to  be  stolen,  and  entrusted  our  baggage,  harness 
and  animals  to  the  care  of  the  chief,  we  entered  the  lodge  of 
our  host.  We  were  not  a  little  surprised,  when  we  came  in, 
to  find  that  it  was  a  spacious  apartment,  a  description  of 
which  will  be  given  at  another  time.  We  had  hardly  reached 
the  place  when  a  young  gentleman  in  the  employment  of  the 
Government  arrived  in  company  with  the  United  States  inter 
preter  at  Fort  Kearney,  a  blade  man,  who  speaks  the  Pawnee 
fluently.  They  had  travelled  the  whole  distance,  without  an 
escort,  alone; — Fort  Kearney  being  about  150  miles  further  up 
the  Platter  river.  This  young  man  was  sent  out  to  the  differ 
ent  tribes  of  Prairie  Indians,  the  Pawnees  among  the  rest,  in 
order  to  invite  them  to  attend  a  General  Council  of  Tribes  at 
Fort  Laramie,  to  be  held  about  the  beginning  of  September. 

While  Mr.  Allis  and  ourselves,  and  the  above-named  per 
sons  from  Fort  Kearney  lodged  with  Siskatuppe,  the  princi 
pal  chief  of  the  village,  Mr.  Sharpee  put  up  at  the  lodge  of 
the  chief  Gatarritatkutz,  who  had  travelled  with  us,  and  with 
whom  he  is  accustomed  to  tarry  whenever  he  comes  to  the  vil 
lage  to  trade. 

After  we  had  spent  an  hour  in  drying  our  clothes,  smok 
ing,  and  conversing  with  some  of  the  chiefs  and  braves,  a  mes 
senger  arrived  from  Mr.  Sharpee,  inviting  us  to  be  present  at 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        17 


a  feast  of  coffee  and  crackers,  which  he  had  prepared  for  the 
chiefs,  during  which  he  intended  to  make  inquiries  respecting 
his  stolen  horse.  When  we  arrived  Mr.  Sharpee  informed  us 
that,  as  the  principal  men  were  now  assembled,  it  would  be  a 
convenient  opportunity  for  us  to  hold  a  council  with  them. 
We  accordingly  commenced  by  informing  them  of  our  object. 
The  jealousy  between  the  chiefs,  however,  became  apparent, 
and  after  some  consultation  among  themselves  Siskatuppe  inti 
mated  that  some  of  the  chiefs  were  not  present,  and  as  the  busi 
ness  before  us  was  of  great  importance  to  the  whole  band  they 
ought  also  to  be  summoned.  It  was,  therefore,  resolved  imme 
diately  to  adjourn  to  his  lodge,  in  order  to  receive  our  com 
munications.  Accordingly  all  the  chiefs  and  braves  having  been 
assembled,  we  were  informed  that  they  were  now  ready  to  hear 
us.  Br.  Smith  then  in  a  speech,  which  was  interpreted  by  Mr. 
Allis,  informed  them  of  the  object  of  our  visit.  Hereupon  Sis 
katuppe  made  an  address,  welcoming  us  in  the  kindest  manner 
and  hoping  that  we  might  send  missionaries  among  them.  Br. 
Oehler  then,  in  an  address,  explained  to  them  more  particularly 
the  object  which  missionaries  have  in  view,  and  that  it  was 
especially  our  present  aim  among  them  to  find  out  whether  they 
were  desirous  not  only  of  having  their  outward  condition  bet 
tered,  but  of  having  the  missionaries  among  them  to  teach  them 
about  a  Savior,  who  came  into  this  world  to  save  us  from  our 
sins,  to  preach  whom  was  our  first  and  principal  design.  Sev 
eral  other  chiefs  and  braves  then  made  speeches,  expressive  of 
their  satisfaction  at  our  coming  to  see  them,  and  welcoming  us 
to  live  with  them,  promising  us  their  protection;  so  that  we 
should  in  no  wise  be  hindered  by  any  of  their  people ;  and  that 
we  might  rest  assured  that  our  cattle  and  all  other  property 
which  we  might  bring  along  with  us  should  not  be  destroyed 
or  molested  by  any  one.  Moreover,  they  acknowledged  that 
they  needed  instruction,  and  that  they  would  all  be  willing 
to  listen  to  us.  We  were  very  much  pleased  with  the  apparent 
earnestness  with  which  these  remarks  were  made,  and  have  no 
doubt  that  they  made  these  promises  in  good  faith.  Before  us 
were  thus  assembled  the  nobility  of  the  village, — the  chiefs  and 
braves,  besides  numbers  of  the  common  people,  at  least  500  in 
all,  sitting  in  solemn  council.  What  a  spectacle  for  the  humble 
missionaries  of  the  cross !  Here  were  the  representatives  of  a 
village,  numbering  at  least  2,500  souls,  deliberating  upon  the 
acceptance  or  rejection  of  missionaries, — holding  a  council,  un 
consciously,  whether  the  time  in  the  providence  of  the  Lord  had 
at  length  arrived,  when  they  should  again  be  instructed  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  "Unknown  God,"  whom  they,  and  their  fath- 


18        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


ers  and  forefathers  have  worshipped,  though  in  great  ignorance- 
and  superstition.  O,  how  cheering  to  our  hearts,  when  we  were 
not  merely  coldly  permitted  to  make  our  abode  with  them,  so 
that  they  might  derive  from  us  some  temporal  good,  in  supply 
ing  their  wants  when  hungry  and  destitute ;  but  when  we  were 
hailed  and  welcomed  among  them  as  the  "Medicine  men  of  the 
Great  Spirit,"  to  have  whom  among  them,  would  better  their 
outward  condition,  and  perhaps  (as  we  ardently  hope  and  pray? 
through  the  blessing  of  our  Lord,)  make  them  a  happy  and 
Christian  nation.  Of  what  vast  importance  may  have  been 
this  solemn  hour  for  these  people? — the  future,  we  humbly 
trust,  will  develop  many  happy  results  from  the  decision  of 
this  council ;  but  Eternity  alone  may  reveal,  that  the  happiness 
or  misery  of  many  a  soul,  bought  by  the  precious  blood  of 
Jesus,  was  connected  with  the  results  of  this  occasion ! 

Our  business  with  them  being  over,  the  above-named  young 
man,  in  the  employ  of  the  government,  also  made  known  to 
them  that  their  Great  Father  at  Washington  had  invited  them 
to  a  grand  council  of  the  different  nations,  to  be  held  at  Fort 
Laramie  for  the  purpose  of  defining  the  territories  of  the  dif 
ferent  prairie  tribes,  who  were  also  to  receive  presents  there 
from  him,  as  a  compensation  for  the  losses  which  they  have  in 
later  years  sustained,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  the  buf 
faloes,  occasioned  by  the  great  emigration  to  the  far  West, 
etc., — at  all  which  they  expressed  their  great  satisfaction. 
After  the  crowd  had  somewhat  dispersed,  a  dish  of  soup,  made 
of  hominy  and  beans,  was  placed  before  us,  with  two  spoons, 
made  of  buffalo  horns,  in  the  dish.  Having  fasted  since  sun 
rise,  we  could  not  complain  of  our  appetites,  and  the  dish, 
though  not  attractive  in  its  appearance,  was  soon  emptied  of 
its  contents.  We  then  prepared  some  coffee,  and  having  supped, 
gave  our  chief  and  his  family  a  feast  of  the  remaining  coffee, 
with  some  crackers  and  slices  of  ham.  We  had  hardly  fin 
ished,  (much  time  was  not  consumed  in  washing  our  dishes,) 
when  a  messenger  arrived,  inviting  us  to  a  feast,  which  one  of 
the  chiefs  had  prepared  for  us.  When  we  arrived,  and  had 
seated  ourselves  on  mats  around  the  fire,  (for  there  are  no 
chairs  in  a  Pawnee  lodge,)  a  dish  of  soup,  made  of  corn,  was 
again  placed  before  us.  As  our  appetites  had  previously  been 
satiated,  we  could  merely  partake  of  a  few  spoonsful,  to  please 
our  kind  host.  We  had  hardly  entered  into  a  conversation 
when  an  invitation  came  from  another  chief; — and  so  we  were 
led  from  lodge  to  lodge,  till  we  had  partaken  of  about  a  dozen 
feasts.  At  last  we  returned  to  the  lodge  of  Siskatuppe,  and, 
having  wrapped  ourselves  in  our  blankets,  and  laid  ourselves 
down  on  mats  on  the  ground,  were  soon  in  the  land  of  visions. 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  tv  the  Pawnee  Indians        19 


May  8th. — Early  in  the  morning  we  were  awakened  by 
the  shrill  voices  of  the  Pawnee  women,  who  were  engaged  in 
cleaning  up  the  lodge,  and  collecting  their  hoes,  previous  to 
their  going  out  to  the  fields  to  prepare  the  ground  for  planting 
corn.  Our  breakfast  being  over,  and  having  had  our  animals 
brought  from  the  pasture,  we,  together  with  the  gentleman 
from  Fort  Kearney  and  his  interpreter,  started  for  the  upper 
village,  distant  about  25  miles,  accompanied  by  our  old  friend 
Gatarritatkutz  and  another  Pawnee.  Our  road  was  again  for 
several  miles  across  the  high  prairie.  We  then  descended  into 
the  bottom  prairie  of  the  Platte,  travelling  about  five  miles 
in  sight  of  the  river,  when  we  made  a  halt  near  the  stream  in 
order  to  prepare  dinner.  The  situation  here  pleased  us  very 
much,  as  very  suitable  for  a  mission  station,  should  the  Paw 
nees  be  permanently  located  where  they  at  present  reside.  The 
timber  on  the  islands  in  the  Platte  is  very  easily  obtained  here. 
The  prairie  bottom  is  from  two  to  three  miles  wide,  gently 
ascending  to  the  bluffs,  and  extends  about  ten  miles  along  the 
Platte,  before  the  bluffs  again  approach  the  river.  A  mile  or 
two  from  where  we  took  our  lunch  a  beautiful  spring  of  never 
failing  water  gushes  forth  from  the  bluff.  After  dinner,  hav 
ing  permitted  our  animals  to  graze  a  while,  we  proceeded  on 
our  journey,  travelling  partly  on  the  high  prairie,  after  ascend 
ing  the  bluff,  and  partly  in  the  bottom.  At  a  certain  place,  as 
we  were  travelling  along,  we  noticed,  that  our  Pawnee  friends 
rode  aside  to  a  spot,  where  their  attention  seemed  to  be  rivetted 
upon  something  on  the  ground.  Inquiring  what  it  was,  they  in 
formed  us,  that  at  that  place  about  nine  or  ten  months  ago,  a 
Sioux  chief  had  been  killed  by  the  Pawnees.  It  seems,  he  had 
made  a  hostile  incursion  upon  the  Pawnees,  with  a  company  of 
his  people,  and  having  found  some  squaws  engaged  at  work  in 
their  fields,  he  had  killed  them.  The  Pawnees,  irritated  at  this 
unprovoked  attack,  immediately  made  up  a  party,  who  hotly 
pursued  their  enemies,  and,  the  horse  of  the  Sioux  chief  being 
wearied,  and  not  able  to  keep  up  with  the  rest,  he  called  to  his 
men :  "Stop  not  for  me,  but  save  yourselves ;  I  shall  die  fight 
ing."  His  pursuers  soon  came  up  with  him  and  killed  him, 
fighting  bravely.  The  spot  where  he  had  been  killed  still  pre 
sented  the  marks  of  Indian  barbarity;  stones,  arrows,  and 
small  pieces  of  the  skull,  which  had  been  cleft  by  their  toma 
hawks,  lying  around, — the  bones  having  been  carried  away  with 
the  carcass  by  the  wolves  of  the  prairie.  We  turned  away  in 
disgust  from  a  place,  which  had  been  the  scene  of  such  a  bar 
barous  atrocity,  praying  only  the  more  fervently  to  the  Lord, 
that  the  passions  of  these  poor  people  might  be  softened  down 


20        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


by  the  all-subduing  influence  of  His  blessed  gospel,  through 
the  happy  effects  of  which  alone,  we  have  been  made  to  differ. — 

As  we  were  approaching  the  upper  village  we  observed 
sentinels  standing  on  the  highest  bluffs,  posted  there,  it  seems, 
to  watch  the  approach  of  any  strangers.  The  first  that  we 
observed  was  at  a  distance  of  five  miles  from  the  village.  In  the 
bottom  prairie,  numbers  of  ponies,  the  property  of  the  village, 
were  grazing,  watched  by  women  and  children.  As  we  ap 
proached  the  village,  young  men  and  boys  joined  our  caravan, 
and  when  at  last  we  arrived  there  a  dense  crowd  of  children  sur 
rounded  us,  eager  to  see  the  visitors  of  their  village,  so  that  it 
was  necessary  for  a  chief  to  come  to  our  aid,  who  opened  a  way 
through  the  immense  throng  for  our  wagon  to  proceed  on  to  the 
lodge,  where  we  were  to  put  up.  We  were  here,  as  well  as  at  the 
other  village,  struck  with  the  large  proportion  of  children,  a  cir 
cumstance  not  generally  observable  among  Indians.  Mr.  Allis 
informed  us  that  visiting  them  a  few  months  previous  (the 
smallpox  having  appeared  among  some  of  the  Indian  tribes) 
he  had  vaccinated  about  1,500  under  14  years  of  age  (in  a 
population  of  hardly  6,000)  ;  the  last  time  that  the  whole  tribe 
had  been  vaccinated,  having  been  14  years  ago. 

The  village  stands  on  a  rising  ground,  about  three  miles 
from  the  river,  and  consequently  the  same  distance  from  the 
nearest  timber.  In  a  valley  near  by  flows  a  beautiful  stream, 
from  which  the  people  of  the  village  are  supplied  with  water. 

The  lodge,  where  we  were  to  remain,  was  the  medicine  lodge 
of  the  village,  and  just  as  we  entered  it  we  found  a  company 
of  about  a  hundred  men  engaged  in  dancing  a  medicine  dance, 
in  order  to  propitiate  the  Great  Spirit,  to  grant  them  prosper 
ity  in  the  approaching  buffalo-hunting  season,  and  protection 
from  their  enemies.  Their  naked  bodies  were  painted  in  the 
most  grotesque  manner,  their  hair  and  weapons  plumed  with 
eagles'  feathers,  and  thus  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  spears, 
and  shields,  they  were  dancing  to  the  beat  of  the  drum,  inter 
mingled  with  songs.  Their  yells  rent  the  air,  while  the  very 
earth  seemed  to  shake  under  their  feet.  After  we  had  sat  in 
the  lodge  a  few  minutes,  a  dense  crowd  of  two  or  three  hundred 
children  filling  up  the  space  at  the  entrance,  whose  curiosity 
was  probably  more  attracted  by  us  than  by  the  dancers,  a  chief 
came  forth  from  the  dancing  party,  with  a  whip  in  his  hand,  at 
sight  of  whom  the  children  made  for  the  door,  but  as  it  took 
some  time  before  the  crowd  could  get  out  by  the  narrow  open 
ing  he  commenced  plying  his  whip  most  unmercifully  on  the 
naked  backs  of  the  poor  children  till  the  entrance  was  cleared. 
We  were  then  informed  that  on  account  of  our  arrival,  out  of 
deference  to  us,  they  would  now  dance  outside;  if,  however,  we 


Description  of  a  Journey  -and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        21 


wished  to  look  at  them  while  dancing,  we  were  welcome  to  come 
out  and  see  them. — After  a  little  while  we  went  out  and  looked 
.at  them  for  some  time,  while  they  were  engaged  in  these  relig 
ious  exercises.  Our  hearts  melted,  and  our  eyes  filled  with 
tears  at  the  thought  of  the  benighted  state  of  their  minds,  liv 
ing  without  Christ,  and  without  hope.  We  were  not  long  en 
gaged  in  these  mournful  reflections,  when  a  messenger  arrived 
inviting  us  to  a  feast.  We  followed  the  messenger,  who  led 
<us  to  a  lodge,  which  we  entered.  Our  host,  who  had  prepared 
M  feast  for  us,  was  no  other  than  the  chief  of  the  Grand  Pawnee 
Band,  and  principal  chief  of  the  whole  Pawnee  nation.  He  re 
ceived  us  in  a  very  warm  and  affectionate  manner,  embraced  us, 
-and  welcomed  us  among  his  people.  His  name  is  Asseruregar- 
rigu ; — he  seems  to  be  extremely  old,  on  the  verge  of  the  grave, 
yet,  in  spite  of  his  great  age,  is  still  very  much  respected  by  his 
nation.  After  being  invited  to  sit  down  on  mats,  a  dish  of 
green  corn  soup  was  placed  before  us,  which  was  very  palatable. 
The  old  man  complained,  that  the  corn  had  not  been  sufficiently 
boiled,  as  he  had  ordered  it  to  be  put  over  when  he  heard  of 
our  arrival,  and  had  been  anxious  to  be  the  first  to  welcome  us 
by  a  feast. — 

Our  repast  being  finished,  we  were  yet  invited  to  several 
feasts  prepared  by  the  chiefs  of  the  village,  whereupon  we  re 
turned  to  the  medicine  lodge.  In  the  evening  a  council  of  the 
chiefs  and  braves  was  called,  in  order  to  inform  them  of  the 
business  upon  which  we  had  come  to  visit  them.  We  were  re 
ceived  in  the  most  cordial  manner,  embraced  by  several  of  the 
chiefs,  and  after  informing  them  of  our  object  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Pawnee  tribe,  aforementioned,  made  a  reply  to 
the  following  effect :  "It  appears  to  me  this  evening  as  though 
I  had  been  dead  a  long  time  and  had  suddenly  to-day  risen 
from  the  dead, — so  glad  am  I  to  hear  the  news  that  teachers 
are  willing  to  come  among  us,  in  order  to  live  with  us  and  in 
struct  us.  We  shall  welcome  you  among  us,  and  the  chiefs  will 
see  to  it,  that  your  property  and  cattle  shall  be  protected ; — I 
hope  you  will  come  soon  to  live  with  us.  I  am  now  a  very  old 
man, — I  must  soon  go  hence;  therefore  come  soon  that  I  may 
behold  the  missionaries  living  among  my  people  before  I  die." 
Speeches  to  a  similar  effect  were  then  made  by  Leezikutz,  chief 
of  the  Republican  band,  Terrericawaw,  chief  of  the  Topages 
(pronounced  Tuppay)  band,  and  two  or  three  other  inferior 
chiefs,  which  were  all  interpreted;  and  finally  a  chief  named 
Lalogehanesharn  (or  Fatty,  as  he  is  called  by  the  whites,  from 
his  corpulence,  something  very  unusual  among  wild  Indians) 
closed  by  making  a  long  appeal  to  the  chiefs,  delivered  in  a 
very  loud  and  sonorous  voice,  exhorting  them  to  keep  the  prom- 


22        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


ises  which  they  had  just  made.  "Don't  cheat,"  said  he;  "don't 
act  deceitfully.  You  have  now  promised  these  men  that  if  they 
come  to  live  among  us  you  will  take  them  under  your  protec 
tion,  and  will  always  restrain  your  people  from  molesting  their 
property.  Remember  this,  and  now  since  you  have  made  these 
promises,  see  to  it  that  you  also  keep  them."  The  council  then 
dispersed,  not,  however,  before  several  chiefs  had  again  em 
braced  us,  whereupon  we  laid  ourselves  down  in  our  blankets 
upon  the  mats  in  the  lodge  for  repose. 

May  9th. — After  breakfast  we  were  invited  to  the  princi 
pal  chief's  lodge,  to  attend  a  council  which  had  been  called  for 
the  purpose  of  listening  to  the  invitation  sent  to  them  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  through  the  above-mentioned 
agent,  to  attend  a  general  council  at  Fort  Laramie.  The  Paw 
nees  declared  themselves  satisfied  with  the  offers  of  government, 
and  several  speeches  were  then  made  expressive  of  the  prospect 
that  ere  long  the  condition  of  their  people  would  be  bettered, 
especially  since  they  might  now  indulge  the  hope  of  soon  hav 
ing  teachers  among  them  to  give  them  instruction.  During  the 
council  a  severe  thunderstorm  was  passing  over,  and  while  the 
chief,  Fatty,  was  speaking,  after  a  loud  peal  of  thunder:  "See," 
said  he,  "the  Great  Spirit  is  pleased  with  us  this  morning  and 
expresses  his  satisfaction  by  speaking  loudly  to  us ! !" — At  the 
close  we  were  yet  invited  to  partake  of  a  feast  with  them.  A 
large  dish  of  corn-soup  was  brought  in  and  set  before  the 
chiefs ; — the  medicine  man  then  came  forward,  and,  taking  a 
spoonful  of  the  soup,  went  to  the  fire,  and  making  a  small  hole 
in  the  ashes  he  poured  it  in.  After  putting  the  spoon  back 
again  into  the  dish  he  returned  to  the  sacrifice  at  the  fire, 
which  was  blessed  thrice  by  holding  both  hands  over  it;  then, 
turning  round  to  the  assembly,  and  fronting  the  chiefs,  looking 
up  to  heaven,  he  stretched  out  his  hands  thrice  in  silent  bene*- 
diction,  and  then  returned  to  his  seat.  The  dish  was  then  passed 
round,  each  person  partaking  of  a  mouthful  or  two  of  the  soup. 

The  council  being  over,  and  the  thunderstorm  having  some 
what  subsided,  towards  noon  we  started  on  our  return,  the  ob 
ject  of  our  visit  to  the  Pawnee  villages  being  now  fully  accom 
plished.  We  had  now  only  to  retrace  our  steps,  as  that  was  the 
nearest  way  for  us  to  travel.  We  prepared  our  coffee  and  lunch 
at  the  same  beautiful  spot,  where  we  had  halted  yesterday.  In 
getting  a  fire,  however,  to  boil  our  coffee,  we  had  considerable 
trouble,  the  matches  in  our  pockets  being  damp,  and  the  grass 
and  wood  being  all  wet  from  the  rain,  which  was  yet  falling. 
But  at  last  our  Pawnee  friends  succeeded  in  finding  some  dry 
rotten  wood,  which,  by  means  of  paper  and  powder,  we  succeed- 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        23 


ed  in  igniting.  In  the  evening  we  arrived  at  the  Lower  Vil 
lage,  where  we  staid  over  night  at  Siskatuppe's  lodge. 

May  10th. — Towards  morning  a  very  heavy  thundergust 
passed  over  the  village,  and  the  water  came  pouring  into  the 
lodge,  from  the  small  opening  above  (which  is  made  to  let  out 
the  smoke),  and  the  shrill  voices  of  the  women,  who  seemed  to 
be  scolding  one  another  while  engaged  in  cleaning  up  the  water, 
disturbed  us  considerably  in  our  slumbers.  In  the  morning  the 
Pawnees  informed  us  that  the  Platte  was  rising;  we,  therefore, 
hastened  to  get  ready  for  travelling,  and  crossed  the  river  with 
out  much  difficulty,  in  the  same  manner  as  at  the  first  time.  Ar 
rived  at  the  opposite  bank,  we  made  a  present  of  some  tobacco 
to  our  Pawnee  friends,  for  assisting  us  in  crossing  the  river. 
A  large  company  of  Pawnees  followed  us,  who  intended  going  to 
the  Omahaw  village  in  order  to  trade  for  corn.  When  we  ar 
rived  at  the  ferry  of  the  Elkhorn,  a  heavy  gust  was  threatening 
to  overtake  us,  and  we  had  hardly  crossed,  secured  our  bag 
gage,  and  got  into  the  hut  of  the  ferrymen,  when  a  furious  hail 
storm  passed  over  us.  The  rain  having  detained  us  so  long, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  reach  another  camping  ground  bv 
daylight,  we  pitched  our  tent  here  for  the  night. 

May  llth. — During  the  night,  another  gust  passed  over 
us,  but  our  tent  kept  us  dry  and  comfortable.  One  of  the  fer 
rymen,  who  had  arrived  during  the  night  from  Council  Bluffs, 
informed  us  that  the  bridge  across  the  Papilion,  over  which  we 
had  passed,  had  been  washed  away  by  the  high  water  occa 
sioned  by  the  heavy  rains,  and  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  swim 
the  stream,  which  had  swollen  to  the  size  of  a  river.  We,  there 
fore  concluded  to  take  another  route,  which  would  lead  along 
a  high  ridge  between  the  Great  and  Little  Papilion,  and  strike 
the  former  opposite  the  Omahaw  village,  at  the  confluence  of 
the  two  streams,  where  we  hoped  to  get  assistance,  should  we 
find  any  difficulty  in  crossing. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  place,  we  found  both  streams  very 
much  swollen  by  the  heavy  rains.  Collecting  some  wood  to 
gether,  we  made  a  fire,  and  prepared  our  dinner,  while  the  party 
of  Pawnees,  who  had  followed  us,  were  busied  in  crossing  the 
Little  Papilion,  in  order  to  get  to  the  Omahaw  village.  After 
we  had  finished  our  meal,  and  had  come  to  the  crossing  of  the 
Great  Papilion,  preparations  were  made  for  getting  our  wagon, 
baggage,  and  ourselves  on  the  other  side  and  here  we  found 
Mr.  Sharpee,  who  has  travelled  several  times  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  was  accustomed  to  meet  with  such  exigencies 
as  the  present,  to  be  of  invaluable  service  to  us.  Under  his 
direction  the  tent-cloth  was  spread  out  on  the  ground,  upon 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


which  was  placed  the  wagon-body.  The  corners  of  the  cloth 
were  then  laid  over  the  body,  and  around  the  whole  a  rope  was 
tightly  tied  to  keep  the  cloth  firmly  adhering  to  it.  Thus  a 
boat  was  soon  constructed,  in  which  the  forewheels  and  tongue 
were  put,  and  then  launched  in  the  stream,  with  Mr.  Sharpee 
and  Mr.  Allis  on  board.  A  rope  had  previously  been  attached, 
the  end  of  which  an  Indian  took  in  his  mouth,  and  swam  across, 
the  boat  being  drawn  after  him.  The  contents  being  quickly 
taken  out  on  the  other  side,  it  was  towed  back  again  by  the  In 
dian  with  Mr.  Sharpee  still  in  it.  The  second  load  consisted 
of  the  hindwheels  with  Mr.  Sharpee  and  br.  Oehler.  Meanwhile 
another  Indian  had  formed  a  boat  of  a  buffalo-skin,  stretched 
out  by  sticks  placed  crosswise,  in  which  the  baggage  was  all 
safely  transported  to  the  other  side.  The  animals  were  driven 
into  the  stream,  and  forced  to  swim  across.  Finally,  the  boat 
was  brought  over  the  third  time,  and  br.  Smith  and  a  lame  Paw 
nee  man  were  taken  to  the  other  side.  When  the  boat  had  made 
this  its  last  trip,  it  had  not  leaked  more  than  about  an  inch  of 
water.  During  the  whole  time,  while  we  were  crossing,  the  rain 
was  pouring  down  in  torrents  upon  us.  Having  now  safely 
gained  the  other  shore  with  all  our  effects,  and  put  everything 
in  travelling  order,  we  proceeded  about  three  miles  farther,, 
when  we  came  to  a  slough,  which  had  also  been  filled  up  by  the 
rains.  It  was  impossible  to  ford  it,  at  the  place  where  the  road 
led  across.  After  reconnoitering  a  little,  we  found  a  place 
where  the  water  was  fordable,  but  with  an  almost  perpendicular 
bank  of  about  ten  feet  on  the  other  side.  The  mules  having 
been  unharnessed,  Mr.  Sharpee  and  br.  Oehler  took  them  across, 
although  they  almost  stuck  fast  in  the  mud  Mr.  Allis  and  br. 
Smith  then  pushed  the  wagon  into  the  slough,  thus  forming  a 
bridge  for  them  to  cross  over.  All  hands  were  then  employed 
in  pulling  the  wagon  out  of  the  mud  up  the  bank,  till  the  end  of 
the  tongue  reached  the  top,  to  which  the  doubletree  was  then 
tied.  The  mules  being  reharnessed,  and  all  the  other  available 
muscular  power  being  applied  in  pushing  up  the  wagon,  we 
finally  succeeded  in  getting  it  up  on  the  bank.  We  had  now  yet 
two  miles  to  travel,  in  order  to  reach  the  Presbyterian  mis 
sion  station  at  Bellevue,  and  were  truly  thankful  that  there 
were  no  more  streams  or  sloughs  to  cross.  About  sundown  we 
arrived  at  our  station,  and  were  heartily  welcomed  by  Mr. 
McKinney  and  the  Mission  family,  though  our  outward  appear 
ance  was  not  very  prepossessing,  our  clothing  being  bespattered 
with  mud,  from  the  various  adventures  of  the  day. — 

On  the  14th  of  May  the  steamboat  El  Paso  came  up  the 
Missouri  to  Council  Bluffs,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  we 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        25 


took  passage  in  her  down  the  river.  On  the  evening  of  the  16th 
the  boat  arrived  at  Weston,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  17th 
left  there  for  Kansas,  where  we  arrived  at  dark.  After  break 
fast  on  the  following  morning,  the  18th,  we  proceeded  to  West- 
field,  eight  miles,  on  foot,  where  we  arrived  just  as  the  congre 
gation  were  leaving  the  church  after  the  service,  which  had  been 
held  by  the  national  assistant,  Frederic  Samuel — truly  thankful 
to  the  Lord  to  find  all  well  at  home,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
four  weeks. 

DESCRIPTION 

OF  THE  MANNERS  AND   CUSTOMS  OF  THE   PAWNEE  INDIANS 

(By  BR.  D.  Z.  SMITH.) 

BANDS  OR  CLANS. — All  the  Indian  tribes  are  subdivided  into 
bands  or  clans.  The  Pawnees  have  among  them  four  distinct 
bands,  viz.,  the  Loups  (pronounced  Loos),  the  Republicans,  the 
Topages  (Tuppays),  and  the  Grand  Pawnees.  Each  band  has 
at  its  head  a  Chief,  among  whom,  however,  the  Chief  of  the 
Grand  Pawnees,  Asseruregarrigu,  is  considered  the  Principal 
Chief  of  the  whole  tribe. 

VILLAGES,  LOCALITIES,  FORMER  MISSIONARIES,  &c. — The 
Pawnees  live  in  two  villages  at  present,  both  on  the  South  side 
of  the  Platte  or  Nebraska  river.  The  lower  village  lies  about 
50  miles  from  Bellevue,  and  about  10  or  15  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Elkhorn  river,  the  first  important  tributary  of  the 
Platte  from  the  North ;  and  the  upper  village  is  situated  about 
20  or  25  miles  above  the  lower,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Loup  Fork  of  the  Platte,  the  next  branch  of  any  conse 
quence  above  the  Elkhorn.  Both  villages  are  situated  on  emi 
nences,  so  that  the  approach  of  an  enemy  can  easily  be  ob 
served,  and  a  sharp  lookout  is  constantly  kept  in  order  to 
guard  against  any  sudden  surprise  from  a  hostile  force.  Sen 
tinels  are  constantly  posted  on  all  the  surrounding  heights,  who 
can  immediately  by  signs,  known  among  the  Indians,  transmit 
intelligence  in  case  of  impending  danger.  During  the  night, 
sentinels  are  constantly  perched  upon  the  tops  of  the  lodges, 
to  guard  against  any  unexpected  nocturnal  attack.  When  we 
were  on  our  return,  and  remained  over  night  at  the  Loup  vil 
lage,  a  report,  probably  a  false  alarm,  had  reached  there  during 
the  day,  that  a  large  war-party  of  Sioux  had  lately  been  seen 
near  the  head  waters  of  the  Elkhorn  river.  During  the  night 
sentinels  were  as  usual  posted  upon  the  lodges,  a  little  more 
noisy,  however,  than  generally,  yelling  to  one  another  and  sing 
ing,  nearly  the  whole  night.  Upon  our  inquiring  why  the  sen- 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


tinels  made  so  much  noise,  we  were  informed  that  it  was  to  let 
the  Sioux  know,  should  they  be  near,  that  they  might  not  ex 
pect  to  find  them  off  their  guard. 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  a  certain  kind  of  military 
organization  is  constantly  kept  up  at  each  village,  rendered 
necessary  by  their  wars  with  their  enemies-.  This  unpleasant 
state  of  things  can  only  be  removed  through  the  benign  influ 
ence  of  the  Gospel,  when  "they  shall  beat  their  swords  into 
plough-shares,  and  their  spears-  into  pruning-hooks  :  nation  shall 
not  lift  up  a  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war 
any  more.  But  they  shall  sit  every  man  under  his  vine  and  fig- 
tree  ;  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid."  Mic.  4  :S,  4. 

As  hinted  in  a  note  in  a  previous  communication,  the  Paw 
nee  villages  are  not  located  on  their  own  land.  Formerly  the 
land  on  both  sides  of  the  Platte  river  belonged  to  them.  But 
about  the  year  1835  they  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  United. 
States,  in  which  they  ceded  to  the  latter  all  their  territory  on 
the  South  side  of  the  river.  Their  villages  were  then  situated 
about  150  miles  further  up  the  Platte  on  the  North  side.  The 
missionaries  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  were  then  residing  with  them, 
their  mission  stations  being  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  these  vil 
lages.  When  the  Pawnees  were  at  their  homes,  which  is  only 
four  or  five  months  of  the  year  (the  remaining  months  being 
consumed  on  their  summer  and  fall  hunts),  the  missionaries 
were  engaged  in  teaching  such  of  their  children  as  could  be 
induced  to  attend  school,  and  in  instructing  the  people  in  the 
truths  of  religion,  as  well  as  they  could  according  to  their  lim 
ited  knowledge  of  the  language.  About  six  years  ago,  the 
powerful  Sioux  made  repeated  incursions  into  the  Pawnee  coun 
try,  and  the  strength  of  the  latter  being  very  much  weakened 
by  their  frequent  wars  with  their  enemies,  they  were  obliged  to 
succomb,  and  at  length  forced  to  leave  their  former  location  on 
the  North  side  of  the  Platte,  and  to  remove  to  the  South  side, 
nearer  to  the  white  settlements  on  the  Missouri  river.  The 
missionaries,  too,  found  it  unsafe  to  remain,  and  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  suspend  their  missionary  operations  among  them. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allis  are  remnants  of  this  noble  band  of  mis 
sionaries,  and,  still  cherishing  the  desire,  that  these  benighted 
but  very  interesting  people  might  be  enlightened  by  the  gospel, 
have,  while  their  fellow-laborers  have  long  ago  left  for  other 
fields  of  usefulness,  still  lingered  behind — and  toiled  on,  amidst 
many  self-denials,  privations  and  discouragements,  in  doing 
whatever  lay  in  their  power  for  the  good  of  these  Indians. 
Lately  the  government  has  established  Fort  Kearney,  not  far 
distant  from  their  former  villages,  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  a 


01 

G 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        27 


security  against  future  incursions,  and  prove  a  safeguard,  when 
;our  mission  will  once  be  established  among  them. 

LANGUAGE. — The  Pawnee  language  is  said  to  be  altogether 
different  from  the  languages  of  the  surrounding  prairie  tribes. 
The  Otoes,  the  loways,  the  Osages,  the  Kanzas  or  Caws,  the 
Omahaws,  the  Puncaws,  etc.,  seem  all  to  speak  dialects  of  the 
same  language,  the  Dakota ;  while  the  Pawnee  language  seems, 
by  its  great  difference,  to  point  back  to  the  earliest  periods  of 
the  residence  of  the  Indians  in  this  country,  when  a  disruption 
may  have  taken  place,  that  formed  them  into  a  distinct  nation. 

POPULATION,  LODGES,  etc. — The  lower  village  consists  of 
about  80  lodges,  with  a  population  of  nearly  2,500 ;  and  in  the 
upper  village  there  are  between  140  and  150  lodges,  the  popula 
tion  amounting  perhaps  to  3,500.  On  approaching  a  village, 
the  lodges  have  the  appearance  of  so  many  small  hillocks,  of  a 
conical  form,  huddled  up  together  in  the  closest  possible  man 
ner,  with  only  narrow  passages  between  for  walking,  and  the 
rest  of  the  space  filled  up  by  pens,  formed  of  stakes,  for  confin 
ing  their  ponies  during  the  night,  to  guard  them  from  being 
suddenly  taken  off  by  a  warlike  party  of  another  tribe. 

The  Pawnee  lodges  are  of  a  circular  form,  large  and  spa 
cious  in  the  interior;  many  of  them  being  50  feet  in  diameter. 
Three  and  sometimes  four  circular  rows  of  forked  trunks  of 
trees  are  placed  upright,  at  appropriate  distances  from  each 
other.  The  row  nearest  the  centre  consists  of  only  four  such 
upright  timbers,  about  15  or  20  feet  high,  while  the  crotches 
in  the  more  exterior  rows  are  shorter  and  more  numerous,  in 
proportion  as  the  circumference  is  greater.  These  forks  or 
crotches  support  thick  crossbeams,  upon  which  a  frame  of  long 
poles  is  laid,  extending  from  the  ground  at  the  outer  circum 
ference  of  the  lodge  to  the  top,  leaving  only  an  opening  at  the 
apex,  of  about  four  feet  in  diameter,  to  answer  the  double  pur 
pose  of  letting  in  the  light,  and  letting  out  the  smoke.  Upon 
the  frame  work  of  poles,  willow  osiers  are  laid,  and  the  whole 
is  then  covered  with  prairie  sod  from  12  to  18  inches  thick. 
Immediately  below  the  opening  above,  a  hole  is  sunk  in  the 
centre  for  the  fire-place,  common  to  all  the  residents  of  the 
lodge.  From  five  to  ten  families,  generally  related  together, 
have  a  common  occupancy  of  one  lodge,  governed  by  a  head 
man,  who  may  be  styled  the  lodge  chief.  Around  the  circum 
ference  of  the  lodge  are  recesses  for  sleeping,  partitioned  off 
for  each  family,  resembling  the  berths  on  board  of  steamboats, 
many  of  which  are  screened  in  front  and  on  the  sides  by  willow- 
twigs  laid  above  each  other,  tied  fast  to  a  frame,  which,  partly 
with  the  reddish  bark  on,  and  partly  white  from  having  the  bark 
taken  off,  exhibit  considerable  taste  in  those  who  wrought  them. 


28        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


When  thus  ornamented  with  twigs,  a  small  opening  about  two 
by  three  feet  is  left  in  front  to  admit  the  occupants.  The  bot 
tom  of  the  berth  is  raised  about  two  feet  above  the  ground  by 
means  of  large  hewn  sills,  overlaid  by  thick  willow  twigs,  which 
are  then  covered  with  buffalo-robes.  The  entrance  of  the  lodge 
is  always  on  the  East  side,  protected  by  a  passage,  closed  above 
and  on  the  sides,  of  about  15  feet  in  length — the  door  being  a 
large  buffalo  robe,  or  several  sewed  together,  hanging  before 
the  inner  entrance.  On  the  side  opposite  to  the  door  of  each 
lodge,  a  recess  is  reserved,  for  depositing  the  skull  of  a  buffalo, 
surmounted  by  shields,  quivers  of  arrows,  spears,  bows,  skins, 
feathers,  etc.  used  for  hunting,  for  medicinal  or  religious  pur 
poses,  as  the  case  may  require.  In  the  intermediate  space  be 
tween  the  recesses  and  the  fireplace,  mats,  about  three  by  five 
feet,  made  of  rushes,  are  laid,  at  convenient  distances,  for  seats ; 
while  an  extra  supply  of  them,  rolled  up,  and  set  aside  at  dif 
ferent  places  in  the  lodge,  are  reserved  for  extraordinary  oc 
casions,  as  for  instance  councils  or  feasts.) 

SUBSISTENCE. — What  the  seal  is  to  the  Greenlander  the 
buffalo  is  to  the  Pawnees  and  other  Prairie  Indians ;  and  many 
of  their  songs,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  the  buffalo,  show 
that  this  animal  is  held  in  high  estimation  among  them.  It  will 
no  doubt  be  a  difficult  undertaking  to  wean  them  from  an  occu 
pation,  which  is  at  the  same  time  a  gratifying  and  exciting 
sport  to  them,  and  which  imparts  to  an  individual  who  distin 
guishes  himself  in  its  pursuit,  a  character  of  high  standing 
among  his  tribe.  The  great  scarcity  of  the  buffalo,  however,  of 
late  years,  since  the  immense  emigration  to  the  far  west,  has 
pinched  them  with  want  and  hunger,  and  it  is  evident  that  they 
cannot  subsist  much  longer  by  depending  mainly  upon  this  ani 
mal  as  heretofore.  This  circumstance,  though  calling  forth  our 
warmest  sympathies  in  behalf  of  their  wretched  condition,  may 
perhaps  be  the  means,  in  the  hands  of  an  Allwise  Providence,  of 
shaking  that  tenacity  and  attachment  so  strongly  developed  in 
the  Indian  character,  for  long  cherished  customs,  and  making 
them  more  pliable  in  adopting  the  arts  of  civilization.  Their 
attention  must  soon  be  directed  to  agriculture  and  the  raising 
of  stock,  or  they  must  starve. 

While  on  the  hunt,  in  the  buffalo  country,  the  Pawnees 
generally  have  a  good  supply  of  fresh  meat  to  subsist  on.  That 
portion  of  their  meat  which  is  intended  to  be  jerked,  in  order  to 
take  home  with  them,  they  cut  into  narrow  slips,  and  dry  it  over 
the  fire,  without  any  salt,  where,  by  the  action  of  the  smoke 
and  sun,  it  soon  dries.  Several  slips  are  then  plaited  together, 
when  it  is  put  away  into  a  skin,  and  reserved  for  future  use. 
The  reason  why  no  salt  is  added  is  probably,  first,  because  it  is 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians        29 


a  scarce  article,  and  secondly,  because  anything  that  is  salted 
and  dried,  imbibes  moisture  in  damp  weather,  and  sooner  be 
comes  rancid  than  meat  dried  without  salt. 

/"  Besides  the  buffalo,  as  their  main  subsistence,  they  raise 
/  some  corn,  beans,  and  pumpkins.  As  they  use  no  other  agri 
cultural  implements  than  hoes,  their  fields  are  not  very  exten 
sive.  For  suitable  spots  of  cultivation  they  generally  select  the 
mouth  of  a  ravine,  or  any  spot  where,  by  the  washing  of  the 
rains,  the  ground  has  become  loose  and  mellow,  and  consequently 
the  sod  may  more  easily  be  extirpated  than  in  the  prairies  gen 
erally,  where  the  ground  can  only  be  prepared  by  turning  the 
thick  sod  by  means  of  a  large  prairie  plough,  and  three  or  four 
3'oke  of  oxen. 

Their  fields  are  not  enclosed  by  fences  or  any  other  kind 
of  protection.  Having  no  other  stock  but  horses,  which  are 
constantly  herded  and  watched  during  the  day  time,  and  shut 
up  in  enclosures  in  the  village  during  the  night,  fences  are  un 
necessary.  While  absent  from  their  homes,  their  fields  are  sub 
ject  to  depredations  from  prairie  wolves  and  deer,  which  how 
ever  no  ordinary  fence  could  restrain.  Because  these  poor 
people  have  no  other  agricultural  implements  than  hoes,  the 
spots  which  they  are  obliged  to  select  for  fields  are  often  at 
great  distances  from  each  other,  and  frequently  from  five  to 
eight  miles  from  their  village.  When  abroad,  to  prepare  and 
plant  them  in  the  spring,  and  gather  the  corn  in  the  fall,  they 
are  often  exposed  to  attacks  of  their  enemies.  While  the  hus 
band  is  watching  from  some  neighboring  eminence  to  guard 
against  the  stealthy  approach  of  any  hostile  force,  the  wive  is 
engaged  in  the  labor  of  the  field.  With  fear  and  trembling  their 
field-labor  is  thus  performed,  and  many  a  one,  while  so  em 
ployed,  is  suddenly  fallen  upon  and  killed  by  a  marauding  party 
of  enemies. 

When  we  visited  them,  they  particularly  requested  us  "to 
beg  their  Great  Father,  the  President,  that  he  should  be  so  kind 
and  again  break  up  some  ground  for  them,  as  he  had  done  in 
former  years,  that  they  might  be  able  to  plant  more  corn."  We 
have  brought  in  the  petition  of  these  destitute  people  before  the 
proper  Department  at  Washington,  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  de 
sired  that  our  benevolent  Government  may  do  something  for 
them  in  their  wretched  state. 

As  has  already  been  remarked,  they  were  in  an  almost 
starving  condition  when  we  visited  them.  The  hunt  had  proved 
unsuccessful,  so  that  in  the  lower  village  they  had  no  meat  what 
ever,  and  had  to  depend  upon  the  little  corn  that  they  had 
raised  the  preceding  year.  In  the  upper  village  they  were  also 


30        Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


in  a  miserable  condition,  for,  though  they  had  yet  a  little  dried 
buffalo-meat,  the  Sioux  had  during  their  absence  on  the  hunt, 
destroyed  their  village  (their  present  lodges  had  been  rebuilt 
since  their  return)  and  carried  off  a  portion  of  their  corn, 
burnt  another  portion,  and  thus  very  little  remained  concealed 
in  the  "caches,"  which  are  made  in  their  lodges.^ 

HOSPITALITY. — The  Indian  has  always  been  renowned  for 
his  hospitality.  This  trait  of  character  is  noticeable  among 
all  the  tribes.  Thus  the  Pawnees,  too,  though  in  actual  want 
themselves,  showed  their  good  will  towards  us  by  preparing  for 
us  the  best  they  could  afford.  One  chief  placed  before  us,  be 
sides  dried  buffalo  meat,  a  small  dish  of  marrow,  which  by  them 
is  considered  a  great  delicacy. 

LABOR. — The  more  enlightened  a  people  has  become 
through  the  benign  influence  of  religion,  and  the  cultivation  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  the  more  the  weaker  sex  attains  to  that 
rank  in  society,  which  the  Creator  intended  for  them;  but  the 
more  debased  and  sunk  in  heathenism  a  Nation  lies,  the  more  is 
woman  enslaved,  and  held  in  subjection.  So  among  the  Paw 
nees,  too,  the  men  are  the  lords,  who,  while  they  themselves  are 
not  disposed  to  do  any  work,  and  generally  consider  it  a  shame 
to  labor,  direct  the  women,  as  inferior  beings,  how  everything 
must  be  done.  The  females,  besides  attending  to  the  housework, 
generally  incumbent  upon  their  sex,  are  obliged  to  cut  and 
carry  all  the  fire-wood;  prepare  the  fields  for  cultivation  with 
their  hoes,  plant  the  corn,  weed  it,  and  finally,  when  ripe,  gather 
it  in;  and  take  care  of  the  horses  of  their  lords,  when  not  used 
by  them. 

The  most  difficult  labor,  however,  that  falls  to  their  lot,  is 
the  erecting  of  their  lodges.  As  the  upper  village  had  been 
burnt  by  their  enemies  during  their  absence,  the  labor  of  re 
building  of  course  devolved  upon  the  poor  women,  and  in  the 
course  of  about  two  months,  when  we  visited  them,  they  had 
completed  nearly  150  lodges.  When  we  observed  that  the  near 
est  timber  to  the  site  of  the  village  was  two  or  three  miles  off, 
and  that  they  have  no  beasts  of  burden,  but  that  all  the  build 
ing  material,  much  of  which  is  very  heavy,  was  carried  so  great 
a  distance  on  the  shoulders  of  the  women,  it  seemed  almost  in 
credible  to  us.  We  noticed  even  girls  of  12  to  14  years  bearing 
baskets  on  their  backs,  filled  with  wet  turf,  to  cover  or  repair 
their  lodges,  which  must  have  been  very  heavy.  Thus  early  the 
females  are  trained  to  carry  burdens  (either  at  home  or  while 
travelling),  which  inures  them  to  hardships,  but  at  the  same 
time  deforms  them,  rendering  them  low  and  bent  in  stature,  and 
pitiable  objects  to  the  beholder.  While  the  men,  trained  to  no 
work  whatever,  are  erect,  tall  and  well-proportioned  in  their 


Description  of  a  Journey  and  a  tfi&'tf  to  'the  Pawnee  Indians        31 


form,  and  almost  feminine  in  their  features,  the  women  are 
short  and  low,  with  stooping  gait,  downcast  looks,  harsh  fea 
tures,  and  hair  dishevelled;  and  dirty,  ragged,  and  filthy  in 
their  appearance.  Such  is  a  picture  of  heathenism!  Have  we 
not  cause  to  be  grateful  for  the  benign  influence  of  the  gospel 
upon  our  land,  so  that  we  are  elevated  far  above  such  a  miser 
able  state  of  heathenism?  Unto  the  Lord  be  all  the  praise! 

Though  it  is  generally  a  feature  among  heathen  nations, 
that  it  is  considered  a  shame  for  the  men  to  labor,  while  all  the 
work  devolves  upon  the  females,  still  the  Pawnees  seem  not  al 
together  indisposed  to  be  instructed.  Mr.  Sharpee,  who  has 
been  acquainted  with  them  and  other  Indians  in  these  parts  for 
nearly  20  years,  told  us  that  the  Pawnee  men  were  unlike  those 
of  other  tribes,  since  they  were  willing  to  lay  hold  of  a  plough 
or  any  other  farming  utensil,  and  only  the  instruction  was  want 
ing  to  make  them  industrious.  Mr.  Allis,  too,  who  has  been  ac 
quainted  with  them  for  the  last  20  years,  and  has  lived  among 
them  a  great  portion  of  this  period,  informed  us  that  when  the 
missionaries  were  formerly  living  among  them,  several  of  the 
Pawnees  had  already  commenced  the  use  of  the  plough.  The 
good  beginning  was,  however,  interrupted  by  their  missionaries 
having  to  leave  them. 

/"*  DRESS. — The  dress  of  the  men  consists  in  nothing  but  a 
{  small  piece  of  cloth,  fastened  around  the  middle.  This,  we  ob 
served,  was  generally  the  only  covering  they  had  on,  when  in 
their  lodges.  When  abroad,  they  had  a  buffalo  robe  or  blanket 
wrapped  around  them.  The  females  are  more  decently  clothed 
than  the  men.  Their  dress  consists  of  leggings,  generally  made 
of  scarlet  cloth,  over  which  a  piece  of  blue  or  brown  woolen 
cloth  is  tied  around  the  waist,  the  ends  lapping  over  each  other 
and  extending  a  little  below  the  knees.  The  upper  dress  con 
sists  of  a  shirt,  or  short  gown,  made  of  calico,  reaching  to  the 
middle.  Over  the  whole  a  blanket  or  robe  is  slung,  above  which, 
on  the  back,  may  frequently  be  discovered  the  black  sparkling 
eyes  of  a  little  "papoose"  peering  forth,  j 

INTOXICATING  DRINK. — It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the 
Pawnees  are  not  so  fond  of  "fire  water"  as  other  tribes,  who 
are  fast  dwindling  away  from  the  demoralizing  and  debasing 
effects  of  intoxicating  drink.  Nothing,  perhaps,  has  aided  more 
in  diminishing  the  population  of  different  Indian  tribes,  than 
spirituous  liquors.  To  the  missionary  it  is  always  gratifying 
and  encouraging  to  observe,  when  a  tribe  takes  a  bold  stand 
against  the  introduction  of  this  destructive  poison.  The  Paw 
nees  allow  none  to  be  brought  into  their  villages. 

BURYING  THEIR  DEAD. — On  the  highest  mounds  in  the 
prairie,  we  often  observed  little  hillocks  of  earth,  which  we  were 


32        Description  of  a  Journey  a'nd  a  Visit  to  the  Pawnee  Indians 


informed  were  the  places  of  sepulture  of  their  chiefs  and  others 
of  their  tribe.  A  tall  bush  was  frequently  stuck  in  the  ground, 
to  designate  the  spot.  We  were  also  informed,  that  among  the 
Pawnees  and  other  wild  tribes  the  cruel  practice  prevails,  when 
they  are  on  their  hunt,  and  their  old  people  get  so  feeble,  that 
they  can  no  longer  accompany  them,  of  leaving  them  behind, 
and  even  burying  them  alive. — In  allusion  to  this  fact  Mr.  Allis, 
pointing  to  their  old  and  feeble  chief,  addressed  the  other  chiefs 
as  follows :  "I  have  learned  that  you  intend  to  put  aside  your 
old  chief,  because  he  is  now  feeble  and  sickly,  and  perhaps  you 
will  even  think  of  burying  him,  when  he  can  no  longer  follow 
you ;  but  I  want  you  to  take  care  of  him.  He  has  been  like  a 
father  to  you.  When  he  was  yet  strong,  you  know  his  kettle 
was  always  over  the  fire  with  plenty.  He  has  always  been  a 
friend  of  the  whites,  and  you  ought  to  esteem  him  for  the  serv 
ices  he  has  rendered  your  nation,  and  not  to  bury  him  before 
he  is  dead." 

More  might  be  added,  to  show  the  wretchedness  of  their 
present  state,  but  we  should  fear  to  become  too  tedious.  Suffi 
cient,  however,  has  been  said  to  prove  that  these  poor  people 
need  the  assistance  of  missionaries  to  better  them  in  their  out 
ward  condition.  But,  when  we  consider  their  spiritual  destitu 
tion — their  ignorance  darkness  and  superstition — 

Shall  WE  whose  souls  are  lighted 
With  wisdom  from  on  high, 

Shall  WE  to  men  benighted 
The  lamp  of  life  deny?" 

"Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  shall  be 
saved."  But  "how  shall  they  call  on  him,  in  whom  they  have 
not  believed?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they 
have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?" 
(Rom.  10:18,  14).  In  the  face  of  all  difficulties,  let  us  not  be 
deterred  from  bringing  the  glad  tidings  of  Salvation  to  these 
benighted  savages;  thereby  perhaps  paving  the  way  for  still 
more  extensive  operations  among  the  aborigines  of  our  coun 
try  ;  and  thus,  by  breaking  unto  them  the  bread  of  life,  proving 
the  means  of  repairing,  in  part,  the  numberless  wrongs  inflicted 
upon  this  poor  abject  race,  by  people  who  call  themselves  chris- 
tians. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


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